Chris Westlake

At Least the Pink Elephants are Laughing at Us Chris Westlake

Eternally optimistic newspaper reporter, Herbert, has a fantastic idea for a book. All it requires is a simple proposal to a trio of unlikely comedians: join forces to perform a week of shows at the prestigious Edinburgh Festival Fringe. They are to be his central characters and their misadventures will form the plot. After all, nowt is stranger than fact. The chosen three have nothing in common and are all linked only by childhood trauma and their upbringing in Bridgend. Or are they? Why has Herbert chosen them as his central characters? Is he writing the story line before it unfolds...? At Least the Pink Elephants are Laughing at Us is life-affirming contemporary fiction at its very best. The story combines intrigue with a relentless dose of dark and often outrageous humour. It takes you on a journey of demotivating motivational speeches, dingy back-alley pubs and disastrously funny comedy gigs. You will laugh out loud; but will anyone else apart from you and those pesky pink elephants...? Meet the characters: James is a fifty-something year-old desperately trying to retain his ponytail and dispose of the dark shadow left by his comedian dad. Connor is protective of his zany but troubled Ghanaian mother and harbours resentment towards his headmaster father. Mandy was often used as a goalpost by her two older brothers. Now she is searching for their dad, who has been missing since she was a little girl. Herbert is the mysterious newspaper report who has plucked the trio from obscurity and into the limelight. But who is he really? And is his offer too good to be true...?